Cruelty: Interchangeable Themes In The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

Cannibalism and Animal Cruelty: Interchangeable Themes in Texas Chainsaw Massacre

In Hooper’s 1974 film The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, we uncover themes of animal cruelty and cannibalism that parallel each other throughout the entire film. We are repeatedly reminded of the cruel punishment that animals endure in slaughterhouses. This social critique serves to remind the audience that humans are mammals just like the animals we consume. The film makes us question society and ourselves as to why we are complicit in slaughtering animals when we purchase and consume them. The film suggests that slaughtering and consuming humans is parallel to the way animals suffer cruel punishment for our consumption. For the purposes of this paper, I will analyze several scenes which incorporate the two themes and compare how they closely align to one another throughout the film.

In the opening scene, we are struck by the tone in narration and the chilling scene of a decomposed body hanging on a stick. The narrator explaining the scene is horrified and it is

implied that the general public would be as well. The following scene then displays a dead armadillo on the side of the road and it seems as if the van with the main characters inside is the vehicle responsible for carelessly striking the animal. This scene shows how desensitized humans have become towards killing animals. This is juxtaposed with the decomposed corpses in the opening scene as a public announcement is made about the horrible incident. However, killing animals is just an everyday activity that we have accepted. This can be easily overlooked in a horror film, however, the more you look closely at the details it becomes easier to unpack the heavy subtext behind the film. Cannibalism and animal cruelty become interchangeable from the beginning of the story to the end.
As the film progresses, we are introduced to the main characters who are on a road trip to visit Sally and Franklin’s grandfathers grave. Since reports have been made about dug up graves, they want to ensure that their grandfathers grave has not been tampered with. Upon arrival, they notice that nothing is wrong and decide they should visit his old and seemingly abandoned home. Along the way, we notice the discussion of the cruelty that animals endure as the group of friends pass slaughterhouses in rural Texas communities. Franklin and the Hitchhiker that they decide to pick up discuss in gruesome detail the processes that slaughterhouses use to kill animals. Franklin then asks the hitchhiker if he works in a slaughterhouse and what the killing process is like, “Hey man, did you go in that slaughter room or whatever they call it? The place where they shoot the cattle in the head with that big air gun thing” (Hooper, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre)? The hitchhiker then explains that the old and brutal way is the best way to kill an animal, “The old way, with a sledge! See that was better. They died better that way” (Hooper, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre). All this talk about the barbarous treatment that animals experience is later paralleled in the film when most of the characters die and are either hung like livestock, stored in freezers, and although it is not overtly stated, we can assume that they will be sold as barbeque.
Once they reach the property, the group enters Franklin and Sally’s grandfather’s old home and explores the surrounding estate. In search of gas, Kirk and Pam discover a house and a generator and assume that that they can enter the property and ask for some gas. Kirk enters the property uninvited and hears a pig squealing. There seems to be no pigs around and then he is immediately killed by Leatherface. He is bashed in the head and dragged which parallels the way animals are unknowingly killed and the conversation in the beginning with the hitchhiker. Kirks body even involuntarily shakes and he closely resembles livestock going through shock while being violently treated. Pam, who is waiting outside, begins to get worried when Kirk does not return. Pam then decides to enter the property to find out what is going in. When Pam enters the property, she explores the home and finds a room filled with human bones and a caged chicken. Pam and the caged chicken closely parallel each other. Once Pam enters, she is enclosed in the home, just like the chicken is in the small cage. As Pam is crying and yelling, the chicken is simultaneously squawking. Both, seem to be aware of their enclosed environment and unfamiliar surroundings. Frightened and confused, they both seem to be crying for help as they come to the realization that they may be in danger. Then, of course, Leatherface makes his appearance and Pam tries to run for the door. She fails to run away and is involuntarily held against her will, taken to the slaughter room, and is hung on meat hook. Crying and screaming, she watches as Leatherface uses a chainsaw to cut through Kirk. Later in the film, we discover that Pam is stored in the freezer just as meat would be stored in a slaughter house. Hooper overtly seems to be criticizing the meat industry and our participation as a society contributing to the slaughter of animals. He makes us question what is the difference between killing a human and killing an animal? Animals experience feelings, have a consciousness, and speak in their own way, however, they are overlooked and seen as a part of the ever-growing meat industry. Nevertheless, if humans are consumed and slaughtered it is horrific and obscene no matter the circumstance. Hooper points out that humans view animals lower than them and are seen primarily as food. If we disregard our own consciousness and the cruel punishment they endure, we can continue to go to the store and purchase our food without even considering that it was once part of an animal.
As the movie progresses, we witness the death of Jerry and Franklin.

When Sally’s boyfriend Jerry enters the home, he discovers Pam’s body inside the freezer. Then, he is hit with a sledgehammer. As the hitchhiker previously stated, “(t)hey died better that way”, and again, we notice the interchangeable theme of cannibalism and animal cruelty (Hooper, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre). When Sally and Franklin decide to go look for their friends who never seemed to return, they discover the horrors that their friends have experienced. Sally then witnesses her own brother Franklin ripped to shreds with a chainsaw by Leatherface. Horrified by the watching her own brother die, she screams and runs to escape her impending doom. In the end, she is the only survivor of the massacre that took place in the rural Texas home. With her life spared, the seemingly dysfunctional family of cannibals will hunt elsewhere to find their next

meal.
Just as animals receive cruel and unusual punishment, the group of friends are faced with the same exact treatment from the family of cannibals. They are brutally murdered and will be consumed by the family. Throughout the entire film Hooper makes us question who is committing the real violent crimes. We, as a society, are supporters of the meat industry as we continue to be complicit and eat animal meat. However, we see the cannibals as horrifying illiterate people who commit unruly crimes. Even though we kill animals in mass production and take advantage of eating every single part of them, that is okay because everyone does it and it is just a normal part of life. However, when we are confronted with videos of animal cruelty, we choose to look away and not see the suffering that are suffering immense pain for our own consumption. Hooper made an interesting choice when he chose to parallel human suffering to animals suffering. His directorial choice to do so makes us question why we continue to allow this to go on? We would not want to see our own family murdered, slaughtered, and consumed so why is it okay to treat animals in this way? Cannibal or meat eater, Hooper shows us that either way, they are both tragic and closely parallel each other. Should we eat meat and slaughter animals? Probably not, but we will continue to do so anyways because that’s just the way society is. Just as the cannibalistic family will continue to eat people, it’s just their way of life.